Weather experts announce distinction after reveiwing new data

An international team of weather experts has named California's Death Valley the hottest spot on the planet. The World Meteorological Organization says the title comes after they investigated a long-held record reported in El Azizia, Libya, and found that an inexperienced weather observer had recorded the temperature incorrectly. El Azizia's record was logged as 136.4 degrees, on Sept. 13, 1922. The new official highest recorded surface temperature is 136 degrees on July 10, 1913, in Death Valley. The investigating committee included experts from Libya, the United States, Egypt and other countries. Experts say the Libyan record was set after the observer broke a more reliable instrument and used a complicated and less reliable type of thermometer. They believe the temperature was off by about five degrees.

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